


Saving Grace

by Starbuck0322



Series: Back to You [5]
Category: Lie to Me (TV)
Genre: Comfort, F/M, No graphic depictions of the crime, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Sad Gillian, Slight trigger warning for mentioning the case they are working on involving the death of an infant.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:35:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23946289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starbuck0322/pseuds/Starbuck0322
Summary: Some cases are harder than others.
Relationships: Gillian Foster/Cal Lightman
Series: Back to You [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1724767
Kudos: 74





	Saving Grace

"You all right, Foster?"

Cal's words broke Gillian Foster's quiet contemplation. Seated at her desk, legs crossed, hands folded in her lap, she looked up at him and inhaled quickly.

"I scared you," he took a step forward. He grimaced. "Sorry." He slouched himself in the chair across from her, his hand rested on the arm of the chair. His head fell to the side.

"You all right, love?"

She looked up at him, eyes dark and troubled. "I thought we had this one, Cal."

He nodded slowly. "So did I."

"They're just kids, Cal."

"They're always the toughest."

Cal watched as Gillian bowed her head and played casually with her fingers. In their search for the truth, he often forgot the gentle nature of his partner. Her determination to prove the world were a happier place, at times, would seep into her judgment. And on this most recent case, two 15 year olds charged with the murder and dumping of their 2 day old infant daughter, Dr. Gillian Foster had let her innocent view of the world, of the human self, get the better of her.

"There's not much more we could have done for them," Cal said, disrupting the uncomfortable silence between them.

She looked up, a single tear had found its way down her cheek. She wiped it away and looked down again. "I know," she confided. "I just wanted there to be another explanation. I don't know if I've ever wanted anyone to be more truthful before."

Cal nodded. His lips pressed tightly together. "Sometimes the world doesn't make any sense." He found her eyes again. "You can't personalize this."

Her brow furrowed. "I'm not."

Cal leaned forward. "That little girl was not Sophie."

Gillian uncrossed her legs and stood. "I didn't say she was." She left the comfort of her desk and moved around to stand in front of him. "I think you're the one making this personal." Her eyes narrowed on him.

He rose to meet her.

"It's true, Gill," he added. "You're thinking you could have saved her." He watched her shoulders rise and fall, and took the opportunity to step into her, invading. He looked up at her, his head cocked. "You know I can't help but worry about you."

"I don't need you to," she whispered.

"Sorry love." He smiled slightly and reached up to take her shoulders in his hands. "You don't have much choice in the matter."

Her lips curled, tears brimmed and fell unrelenting. "I would have loved her."

"I know, darling." He sighed, taking her into his arms. "You would have been fantastic."

A hand found her hair and he stroked her gently. He felt her pull away from him, but he held her tighter; wound his arm around her.

He was still, waiting for her to relax against him. She released an uneven breath and at once broke into sobs.

He let her cry, let her push and pull against him. He whispered in her ear, told her what she wanted to hear, told her it was going to be ok.

She vaguely heard him speaking to her, concentrating more on the tone of his voice, the soft petting of her hair, his fingertips against her skin, than on the words he uttered.

She inhaled unevenly and attempted to regain her composure. She removed herself from the crook of his neck, looked down to where she had rested and brushed her palm flat over the shoulder of his blazer.

"I'm sorry," she said. Her face inches from his own, she refused to meet his eyes.

He smiled. "Skin off a dog's back, eh?" He brushed his fingers across her cheek. "There's always dry cleaning."


End file.
